Okuzeka
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning vocabulary · Large Language Models

LLM

Meaning in artificial intelligence & machine learning, with examples

/ˌel el ˈem/abbreviationCore term

In artificial intelligence & machine learning, LLM means: Short for large language model: a very large neural network trained on huge amounts of text to predict the next token, which lets it answer questions, write, summarize and code.

In Turkish: büyük dil modeli

How it is used

Much more common than the full form in everyday talk. Engineers call an LLM through an API, host an open model themselves or build 'LLM apps'. The plural is LLMs, and you say 'an LLM' because the letter L starts with a vowel sound.

Example sentences

  1. We use an LLM to draft replies, and a team member approves each one before it goes out.

  2. Open-weight LLMs have become good enough for most of our internal tasks.

Common collocations

  • call an LLM
  • open-weight LLM
  • LLM application
  • LLM provider
  • fine-tune an LLM
  • tokenA small unit of text that a language model reads and writes, often a whole word, part of a word or a punctuation mark. Model limits and prices are counted in tokens.
  • promptThe text or other input given to a generative model to tell it what to do, such as a question, an instruction or a few examples followed by a task.
  • transformerA neural network architecture, introduced in 2017, that uses attention to process all parts of a sequence in parallel. It is the basis of today's LLMs.
  • hallucinationA confident but false or made-up output from a generative model, such as an invented fact, quote, source or piece of code.
  • context windowThe maximum amount of text, measured in tokens, that a language model can take into account at once, including the prompt, any documents and its own answer.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Large Language Models

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: